What is google maps doing now? Are they trying to hide the reviews? Please help me understand!

I have always found it helpful to click on the users to see what other reviews they have and to make sure they are legit. I trust reviewers that have more than one review and that have both a mix of good reviews and bad reviews… from what I understand google is moving that direction as well. I believe they are attempting to identify “Super Reviewers” or as they would put it “Trusted Reviewers”. According to Matt Cutts google is all about determining who they can trust…. and for good reason. But what about your useres that want to see the math worked out… Why hide the reviews?

The google maps section has been one of this year’s best roller coaster rides. At the beginning of the year it seemed that many of the maps were being manipulated and dominated by map spammers. It progressed and the maps became more sophisticated. Then the ride took a huge drop when it became “Too sophisticated”. In an attempt to squash out the bugs in the maps and eliminate the pests, i.e. spammers, the maps began a rampart merging. The following is a story of near tragic results from an inaccurate merger made in the maps…

“Google merged the records for Dr John G Moe and Dr Kenneth Landis and this almost led to a tragic patient outcome this weekend. An emergency room doctor from Kansas tried to contact Dr. Moe to see if a certain drug could be given to our patient. Since the patient was unable to give the ER our phone number, the googled Dr John G Moe. Since Google linked our record, the saw the phone number for Dr Landis and left a message on his answering machine and since he wasn’t on call that weekend, we didn’t learn of the problem until much later. So – how do we get Google to unmerge our records. We share an office – but are not a group practice and do not cross-cover on call? Is there an email address or phone number we can use to get this fixed?” Ellen

Today many other map results are doing the same. Its fair to say that google wants their information to be accurate. That is why they making the mergers. But this doesn’t stop the pain of those that are being hurt.

You also have un-mergers happening. Locations that were accurately merged with review sites like insiderpages.com, that are now split off and forming two listings for the same business, same address, with a few mismatched items, like one listing with “St.” and the other “Street”. Or a listing with “Ste” and another with “Suite”, these discrepancies can result in un-mergers. So mergers and un-mergers can both take their toll.

The other side of this are spammers that are still getting through. Like when you search for Houston Pest Controlin Google, you get a one box for a site that is a listing service for a pest control company… zone profiles.

Google gives a profile page a one box for Houston Pest Control. SEO teams are constantly calling and bombarding PCO's with offers about Local listings on Google. Beware, spammers will be caught. Will the pest control maps ever be right?

Is there a happy ending to this story?

Give google some time. They are very good at what they do. I am confident that they will get all of this straightened out. In the meantime, play nice! Just because your competitor has an edge on you doesn’t mean that you should give him a bad review… Like the Dixie Rebel’s review for St. George Pest Control. Funny thing… this little review pushed Bulwark to ask it’s customers for help in fighting the falsehood spread by this review. The result… 89 positive reviews!

Further, Don’t lie and pad your reviews… Sorry not going to name pest control companies I am suspicious are doing this, but a little investigation into the reviews and it’s pretty easy to spot a fake. If you want my opinion on a guy that looks like a fake then post it below and I will give you my scoop.

If you want additional help with google maps then email a friend of mine at tshirtseo (at) yahoo.com